Mesoamerica

Imagine walking back to town after a long vacation, after arriving and looking around one may find that no one is there and the place is completely abandoned. Thats a lot like what happened to the Mayans. The Mayans lived in Mesoamerica from 1800 B.C. to 900 A.D. The Mayan civilization reached its peak of power in the sixth century A.D. and had a peak population of two million. The Mayan are most known for disappearing in 900 A.D., a mystery still unknown. There are many theories around their…

The film “Apocalypto”, Directed by Mel Gibson, is a film based in Mesoamerica, following the lives and war of the Mayan civilization. This film displayed events and information that was stated in the Strayer: Ways of the world text book. This film covers a small Mayan village from before they were captured, through their journey, and lastly ending with the Spanish arrival. Among these event a few things were exemplified such as the description of the type of land they lived, warfare among the…

The global flow of silver from the mid-sixteenth century to the early eighteenth century effected many different aspects of society including the economy and the social aspects of society. Economies ended up plummeting and Europe’s attitudes took a bad egotistic turn when it came to luxury goods, that's only some of the effects of the social and economic changes. The flow of trade increased the integration of Europeans in the globalization of trade around the world, which helped with the new…

When the Han dynasty ceased, China was ushered into a period of unrest. The system of ethics based Confucianism was shown to be flawed. Buddhism was spreading, and it showed similarities with Daoism. So, the Chinese took the best out of the three, and the period of unrest was over. However, in the Song dynasty Confucianism would once again be dominant. The Chinese thrived in the arts and in architecture, with creations like the pagoda. The Chinese also had many technological advances and the…

Maya civilization during the classic period reached its peak in the central region around the eighth century with powerful city-states such as Tikal, Copan, Palenque, and Cobah flourishing and spreading from southern Mexico to northern Honduras. However, this glorious age was soon followed by a marked decline, with diminished populations, a reduction in building and art production, an increased obsession with warfare and military fortification. New discoveries and newly deciphered stone carvings…

The “modern” history of Guatemala (gwa-te ma-le), began when Spain conquered the land in 1511. But before Spain came into the picture, the Mayans -one of the most dominant indigenous societies of Mesoamerica- were the ones that flourished this region. But not only were they proficient with pottery, agriculture, calendar-making, mathematics and hieroglyph writing but they also left an astonishing amount of incredible architecture and symbolic artwork. Guatemala won its independence on September…

The grandiose course of human history has bared witness to many great wonders of the world. Whether it be the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, or the ancient pyramids of Egypt and Mesoamerica, human ingenuity has truly shown its ability to stand the test of time through its many architectural accomplishments. This essay will discuss the architectural accomplishments of two particular monuments of human history – the Greek Parthenon, and the Roman Pantheon. The Parthenon and the Pantheon equally…

Agriculture, which first developed in Mesoamerica, is growing crops systematically and relying on those crops for food. In contrast, foraging was gathering various resources like plants. Foraging is also associated with hunting because the Natives were gathering resources, but they were taking…

of the influence of agriculture on territorial expansion, the value of agriculture to society, and the ingenious creation of chinampas. The Aztec civilization’s advanced agricultural practices were critical to their territorial expansion across Mesoamerica. For example, the map in Document A proved that as the advancements in agriculture…

In this essay I will describe the various factors which influenced the religions of India, Egypt and Rome. These factors include social, political, economic and geographical influences on the development of religion. Social, political, economic and geographical influences played a large part in the religions of India during the Vedic Age, the Old and New Kingdoms in Egypt and the Mayans. The Vedic Age in India took place approximately from 1500-500 BCE. This period in Indian history is when the…